Chuck E. Cheese's
Chuck E. Cheese's is a chain of family entertainment centres owned by Kabushiki Gaisha ABS. History In 1977, Nolan Bushnell (co-founder of Atari) started a chain of "Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatres" that combined arcade entertainment with typical pizzeria-restaurant fare. The concept proved to be a success, and a rapid expansion followed. Showbiz Pizza Place was formed by former CEC employee Robert Brock in 1980, and quickly became Chuck E. Cheese's main rival with equal success. However, with the 1983 video game crash and Pizza Time Theatre's bankruptcy a year later, Brock bought out and reunited Chuck E. Cheese's under the ownership of the newly-formed Showbiz Pizza Time, Inc. CEC and Showbiz operated side-by-side for some time until 1992, when all remaining Showbiz Pizza Places in the US were either shut down or rebranded under the Chuck E. Cheese's name. In 1998, Showbiz Pizza Time renamed itself as CEC Entertainment, Inc. The following year, Discovery Zone (another CEC rival) was acquired from bankruptcy, and like Showbiz, many of Discovery Zone's locations were shut down and reopened as new Chuck E. Cheese's locations. In 2004, a revamped brand image was introduced, which included a new corporate logo and a slogan that would go on to become synonymous with the concept; "Where a Kid can be a Kid". 3 years later in 2007, CEC Entertainment, Inc. celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Chuck E. Cheese's chain. Chuck E. was redesigned once again in 2012, this time with a new "rockstar" image. The logo was redesigned accordingly. In 2014, Apollo Global Management acquired CEC Entertainment, Inc, albeit with much negative attention coming under the new management, including major game price hikes tied to the introduction of the "PlayPass" system, worsening customer service and declining food quality. New ownership In June 2016, Japanese conglomerate Kabushiki Gaisha ABS acquired CEC Entertainment, Inc, and announced a massive renovation plan and improvement scheme. The circa-2004 corporate logo was brought back into use once again, alongside the main "rockstar" Chuck E. used in advertising. "A brand new Chuck E.'s" Upon the buyout of Chuck E. Cheese's, Kabushiki Gaisha ABS announced that it was going to undertake a massive renovation programme to restore "Chuck E. Cheese's reputation for low-cost, but high-quality family fun with lasting impressions on both newcomers and long-time patrons". Kabushiki Gaisha ABS noted some bad decisions made by Apollo, and some negative customer reviews, and immediately set out that it would do the following: * Restore its "all games 1 token" selling point * Allow the PlayPass and token systems to be used interchangeably * Repurpose the PlayPass as a simple way of storing tokens on a card, instead of the much-criticised "PlayPoints" that would cost multiple tokens * Improve food quality * Hire large cleaning teams that will work around-the-clock, during and after-hours to ensure the best standards of cleanliness and hygiene, and * Take more swift action against badly-performing employees Kabushiki Gaisha ABS also noted that it would do the following to set itself apart from CEC's other previous owners: * Expand the chain's web presence, including a brand-new website with more "fun stuff" for kids * Open more locations in parts of the US that have never been served by any CEC location, such as Florida Keys, Alaska and Los Santos/Blaine * Sell specially-selected items of Chuck E. merchandise in retail stores, some of these items being made specifically for retail sale * Run more promotional events using Chuck and Helen walkarounds (complete with ABS employee badges and "Follow Me to Fun!" signs; The Helen walkaround came from the Edison, NJ store, which sent the costume to ABS' Eastern European Annexe in Helsinki, which held it until ABS received the costume) * Allow the PlayPass to be used in tandem with transportation fare systems such as the MTA MetroCard, Suica and Oyster, with the PlayPass giving users direct tickets to the nearest station within a certain radius of a Chuck E. Cheese's location for 4-5 tokens, and * Run special publicity programmes, such as: ** The Chuck E. Cheese's "Party Train" ** The "Chuck E. Challenge" ** The IMSA/ACO Junior Le Mans Series presented by Chuck E. Cheese's * Designate Rockford, Illinois, the last location with the 80's Rocker stage, as a historic location, with the entire store being remodeled to resemble both a Pizza Time Theatre and a modern Chuck E. Cheese's on the interior, with a new Circles of Light stage on the other side of the store. The Tinker Towers, Jasper's Soda Pop Stop, Chuck E. Cheese's Cartoon Time Theatre, and The Cheese Factory, alongside various classic PTT attractions are also featured. It also has classic arcade games alongside the regular modern day CEC games. International expansion One of Kabushiki Gaisha ABS' biggest talking points was how it planned to expand the Chuck E. Cheese's name worldwide. Under previous ownership, Chuck E. Cheese's had expanded into Canada, South America, Saudi Arabia, Dahrconia and the United Arab Emirates, amongst some other minor markets. Kabushiki Gaisha ABS, however, confirmed that it was going to take the name into even bigger markets; ABS confirmed that it was beginning operations in the United Kingdom, Japan and South Korea, complete with new country-specific branding and variations in entertainment. Expansions into New Zealand and Australia are currently underway, with the first Australian locations set to open by the end of August, whilst expansions into the Philippines, and Malaysia are currently being evaluated. Chuck E. Main article: Chuck E. Chuck E. Cheese (often simply referred to as "Chuck E.") is the titular mascot of the chain. His origins trace back to shortly before the first Pizza Time Theatre opened in the late 70's. Nolan Bushnell, conceptualising the idea, wanted the chain's mascot to be a coyote. He immediately ordered a costume for walkarounds, but ended up with a rat costume. As a businessman who was willing to change plans owing to mistakes, he came up with the name "Rick Rat's Pizza". His PR department immediately slammed the decision to directly associate the restaurant with vermin by name, and set to work coming up with another name, eventually going ahead with the name "Chuck E. Cheese's" by opening in 1977. Chuck E. went through many redesigns as the chain evolved. Many minor changes were made leading up to 1994, when a more kid-friendly Chuck E. (popularly referred to as "Cool Chuck") was introduced. 1997 saw another minor redesign. This era's Chuck E. was nicknamed the "Avenger". 2004 saw Avenger Chuck E. being fully integrated into the brand's image, with a new corporate logo, slogan and advertising campaign. 2012 saw the most radical redesign to date; Chuck E. becoming a CGI-animated character styled to look like a "Rockstar". This redesign attracted much negative attention upon first release, allegedly destroying perceptions of Chuck E. from years past. Despite this negativity, he soon became the face of the company proper by 2013. Jaret Reddick (lead singer for the band Bowling for Soup) was also given the role of singing and voice acting as the then-redesigned Chuck E., a role that he currently holds. Upon the Kabushiki Gaisha ABS takeover, it announced that it was going to keep the current-design "Rockstar" Chuck E., albeit used in tandem with the old 2004 Chuck E. that will be featured on their new international logo. Birthday parties One of Chuck E. Cheese's main selling points is its "Chuck E. Birthday" parties. Chuck E. Cheese's became well-known for these parties over the course of the 2000s, and they eventually ended up becoming a staple of popular children's culture in the United States. According to Kabushiki Gaisha ABS, around 65 birthday parties every day take place at a US Chuck E. Cheese's location. Kenji Yukimura's birthday The founder of Kabushiki Gaisha ABS and co-owner of Chuck E. Cheese's, Kenji Yukimura, will celebrate his own birthday every year on the 19th of August at his local Chuck E. Cheese's location in Shibuya, Tokyo. Advertising campaigns Chuck E. Cheese's has aggressively marketed itself through sensationalist television advertisements. Much attention was attracted to Chuck E.'s through its 1994-2012 "Avenger" era ads, which often depicted children either at home or at Chuck E.'s, performing activities with an animated Chuck E. character. During this time period, Chuck E. Cheese's was also notable for sponsoring many programs on PBS Kids. Ever since the 2012 character redesign, Chuck E. was depicted as a much smaller character, now the size of an actual mouse. He also now resides permanently inside his own restaurants. These new commercials also featured songs written specifically for use in the chain's marketing campaigns. The first set of 2012 adverts were slammed by a sizeable portion of the public, mainly over the grammatically-incorrect slogan "Say Cheese, It's Funner". Another campaign launched in 2013 ("Follow Me To Fun") was also met with lukewarm reception. The "Say Cheese" ads were remade and put back on the air in 2016 to much more positive attention. ABS decided that it would remake some Avenger-era ads with Rockstar Chuck. It was also decided that for these ads, he would be restored to human size. Most of the ads would be filmed at select locations, including, but not limited to: Irving (TX), Ocean Terminal (Scotland), Odaiba (Tokyo), and Sydney (NSW). Slogans North/South America * "Where A Kid Can Be A Kid." (main slogan) * "The Real Cool Place to be a Kid" (1996-2004) * "Say Cheese, It's Funner!" (2012-2013, 2016) * "Follow Me To Fun!" (2013) * "Fun for all, fun for less" (2014) * "Don De Un Niño Puede Ser Niño" (Español) * "La Où En Enfant Peut Être Un Enfant" (Français) * "Bigger, Better, Funner!" (2016) South Korea * "Where A Kid Can Be A Kid." (Korean translation yet to be finalized) United Kingdom * "Where A Kid Can Be A Kid." (Primary) * "Follow Me To Fun!" (Television advertising) * "When you're hungry for fun..." (Print advertising) Japan * "子供が子供ことができどこで" (Kodomo ga kodomo koto ga deki dokode / Where A Kid Can Be A Kid) The Sovereignty of Dahrconia * "Where A Kid Can Be A Kid." (Primary slogan since 1992) * "Just Say Chuck E. Cheese for food and fun" (1985-1992) * "Chuck E. Cheese, please!" (1994-1997) * "When you're hungry for fun..." (2011; Print and online advertising only) * "We rock the party, because that how we roll" (2012) * "Follow Me To Fun!" (2013) Category:Chuck E. Cheese's Category:Japan Category:United States Category:Kabushiki Gaisha ABS Category:Pizza Category:Pizza Restaurants Category:Restaurants Category:Fun Centers Category:Arcade Category:1977